Ticket dispensing means



May 21,1935. I C.FURRER 2,001,903

TICKET DISPENSING MEANS Filed March 25, 1933 INVENTOR. C'arZ izlrrel:

Patented May 21, 1935 TICKET DISPENSIN'G MEANS 7 Carl Fiirrer, Zug, switaerland, asslgnor to Landis & Gyr, A-G.. Zug, Switzerland,

of Switzerland a corporation land March 29, 1982 Application March 23, 1933, Serial No.'662,215 Y In Switzer- 1 Claim. (01. 164-42) I,

ferred embodiment of the invention, themechm The invention relates to a novel'and useful mechanism for dispensing tickets, stamps, vouchers or other similar articles in strip form.

& Objects and advantages of the invention will I be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims. Y Y The invention consists in the novel constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawing, referred te herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrates one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serves to explain the principles of the invention. 7 Ofthedrawingno i 30 Y Fig. 1 is a perspective viewof a machineembodying the invention; v I Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, viewed from the right and with a portion of the cover plate removed to show the interior mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line A-B of Fig. 2; and Y Fig. 4 is a. detail perspective view of the stripcutting device.

The invention provides a novel and useful mechanism for dispensing tickets, stamps, vouchers or similar articles which are connected together in strip form and adapted to be'severed'in groups of predetermined units! The improved features'of the invention obviate the necessity fora plurality of operating handles or the like in order to set the number of vouchers to be delivered at a time and to effect the delivery itself. In the mechanism of the invention, the setting of the number of units to be delivered, thefeeding thereof, the severing of the strip and the return of the mechanism to its initial position are all accomplished by a single-manual movement. The invention comprises an improved power-operated unit adapted to automatically perform the above-indicated functions which are initiated by a single, simple manual movement of the operator.

The invention also provides a very small, c mpact and efficient ticket-dispensing mechanism, thereby permitting the setting up of a. plurality of such devices in parallel, so'that tickets or the like of different denominations may be delivered from a battery of machines. Y 7 1 Y Referring now in detail to the present prenism comprises a relatively narrow casing I having an extension 2 at its top and a lower arcuate portion 3. A ticket-receiving troughl is pro;- vided beneath the portion 3. while 'acover i encases the actuating mechanism hereinafter described. Y Y Y Y The embodied means for manually initiating the actuation of the device comprises a master shaft 6 on which a, lever I is fixed outside the casing I. This lever I, which forms the selecting lever, has mounted thereon a curved segment movable over the curved part 3 of the cas-' ing, finger-holes 9 being provided in said seg.-' ment. I 0 is an abutment piece fixed on the curved part 3 and extending over the curvedsegment 8. In the position of rest of the'lever I the front wall I l of the curved segment 8 .lies against the extension 2 and figures providedon the curved part 3 are visible, through the finger holesO. I

' The embodied means for transmitting the driving force from shaft '6 to the ticket -feedingmeans proper comprises'two levers l2 and?" mounted on shaft 0 within the casing. A gear wheel I5 is mounted between said leversfon a sleeve I that is free to rotate on the shaft 6, the said gear wheel bearinglan annular series of ratchet teeth It. The gear wheel l5 is in engagement through intermediate wheels ll, l8, l9 and 20 with the shaft 2| of a drum' 22 and forms a unit which is acted upon bya spring to be hereinafter described and in the operation of the apparatus acts by means of thensel'ecting lever 'I in a manner likewise to be hereinafter described; Y The drum 22 serves in a known manner for. guiding the vouchers 23 connected togetherin the form of a strip, and for this purpose has fine pins 24 engaging in the perforations of the voucher strip, and also transverse grooves 25,. which coact with feelers 28, that come into oper-' ation when there is no strip 23 on the drum 22 and in a known manner eifect a locking of the feed mechanism for the strip consisting of the drum 22 and the driving means therefor (not shown in the drawing). o The drum 22 is provided with devices for con-: trolling the feed of thetickets so as to'give the desired number. As embodied, to the drum 22' there is fixed by means of studs or'pillars 21 a ring 28. The studs 2! correspond in number to the subdivision of the drum 22 in relation to the size of the individual vouchers and the ring 28 likewise has on its periphery recesses 29 spacedto correspond with the subdivision above mentioned.

For severing the length of tickets delivered from the device, the lever |2 bears a projection 39, which coacts with the recesses 29 and on its free end there rests an arm 3|, which is mounted on the oscillatory shaft 32 of a cutting-off knife 33. The cutting-01f knife 33 is pivotally mounted on a carrier 32 mounted on the oscillatory shaft 32. The cutting-off knife 33 under the pressure of a spring 34 rests against the lower edge of a guide 35 provided at the outlet from the apparatus of the strip 23 and normally closes an outlet slot 36 in this guide.

The invention comprises means for controlling the return movement of the actuating segment 1 and its coacting ticket-controlling means. As embodied, the lever I3 is made in the form of a toothed segment, with which there is connected a governor 31, which by employing a detent pawl |3 only acts in one direction of rotation. On the sleeve N there is loosely mounted a double lever 39, 39, the arm 39 of which bears a pawl 49 coacting with the ratchet teeth "5 and coacts at its front end 39 with the studs 21. The arm 39 of the double lever 38, 39 has an abutment pin 4|, which coacts with one edge of the toothed segment |3. The shaft 6 is acted upon by a spring '42, which tends to hold the selecting lever 1 always in its position of rest and is arranged in a box-shaped part of a carrier 42', to which it is fixed at one end. The carrier 42 is fixed in the casing and simultaneously serves as a bearing for the shaft 6. The lever 39, 39 is acted upon by a spring 43, which is likewise arranged stationary at one end andtends to hold the lever 39, 39 with its arm 39 always resting against a stop 44 fixed in the casing A counting and recording or indicating mechanism 46 is connected to gear wheel l5 through a shaft 45. Said counting mechanism is mounted in the extension 2 and has a series of figure drums which sum the total number of vouchers delivered, and also a series of figure drums which can be moved back to zero at any time by means of a key 41; On the shaft 45 there is provided a coupling 49, which can be actuated by the feelers 26 by means of linkwork 49, so that in the coming into action of the feelers 29, inaddition to the locking-of the feed mechanism of the strip of vouchers, the coupling of the counting mechanism '46 with the gear wheel I5 is interrupted and false indication ofthe counting mechanism is avoided.

Backward turning of the feed mechanism for the strip of vouchers 23 is prevented by a detent pawl 59 mounted on the carrier or bracket 42'. The said strip 23 comes out of a magazine (not shown in the drawing since it does not form an essential part of the invention) provided in the lower part of the casing I. Such strip lies stacked in zig-zag form in the magazine or is wound in a roll therein, and runs over a guide 5|, which is fixed in the casing and is arranged close to the drum 22 in such a manner that the strip is held against the drum 22 by means of the pins 24 and the perforations in the strip, and embracing such drum comes into the guide 35, in order to be pushed through a slot 52 out of the casing into the trough 4 during the delivery operation.

The operation of the hereinbefore described mechanism is as follows:

In the position of rest of the apparatus the curved segment 8 of the selecting lever 1, as already mentioned, liesaeainst the extension 2 and in the ten finger-holes 9 of the curved segment 9 there are visible the figures 1 to 10. The fingerholes 9 in order to permit a small angular stroke of the selecting lever, are arranged in two series arranged to break joint with one another. In this position the abutment pin 4| is raised from the edge of the lever l3, the front end 39 of the lever arm 39 lies against a stud 21, the projection 39 engages in a recess 29 and the cutting-off knife 33 closes the outlet slot 39.

If it be desired to deliver a voucher or vouchers, by grasping the finger-hole 9 corresponding to the number of vouchers to be delivered, the selecting lever 1 is oscillated by a finger until such finger rests against the stop l0. At the beginning of this oscillatory movement only the lever 2 comes into operation, since its projection 30 passes out of thecorresponding recess 29. The arm 3| hereupon moves down, thereby moving the cuttingoff knife 33 in the direction to open the outlet slot 36. The drum 22 thus remains arrested in the first place by the front edge 39 of the lever arm 39 and only when the lever |3 strikes against the abutment pin 4| will the lever 39, 39 be carried along, and the driun 22 released. The pawl 49 then clicks over the teeth of the ratchet wheel l6 until the selecting lever 1 has reached the position corresponding to the number of vouchers selected. In this movement the pawl l3 clicks over the intermediate gear wheel driving the governor 31, so that the latter remains stationary. If now the selecting lever be released, it returns to its position of rest under the action of the spring 42, its movement being retarded by the governor 31. In this motion the pawl 49 takes with it the ratchet wheel |9 and therewith the gearing |5, l6, 1, |9, l9 and 29, and also the drum 22, so that the delivery of the selected vouchers through the outlet slot 36 into the trough 4 now takes place. Shortly before the position of rest is reached, the front edge 39' comes in front of the next stud 21, thereby again locking the drum 22. At the same time the double lever 39, 39 strikes against the abutment 44, so that it again removes itself from the abutment pin 4| for the remainder of the movement of the lever l3. During this last mentioned movement the projection 39 passes into the recess 29 that has already come into register therewith by the contact of a stud 21 against its front edge 39' and the lever |2 simultaneously raises the arm 3|, thereby bringing the cutting-ofi knife 33 into the closing position, whereby the vouchers delivered are separated from the apparatus.

By means of the apparatus described there can be simultaneously delivered ten vouchers as a maximum; by selecting another maximum stroke of the selecting lever and providing a corresponding number of finger-holes the maximum delivery can be altered, i. e. made greater or smaller. In order to permit the delivery of vouchers of diiferent dimensions with the same apparatus, the drum 22 is mounted with its transmission gearing |1, |9, |9, and 29 on a separate frame plate 53, by means of which these parts are fixed in the casing With the drum 22 the guide 5| would also be interchanged, which guide for this purpose is screwed to a carrier 54.

The governor 31 causes a uniform operation to be obtained and more especially prevents a hard blow being struck by the selecting lever 1 when it reaches its position of rest.

The above described apparatus has the advantage that its manipulation is extremely simple,

since for the selection or setting to the number of vouchers to be delivered and the delivery of such vouchers themselves, only a single engagement of the hand is necessary.

The small dimensions of the apparatus laterally permit a series of apparatus containing vouchers of different denominations to be set up side by side, for which purpose the selecting lever 1 moves in a niche formed by the setting back of the curved part 3 relatively to the external bounding surfaces of the casings l.

Instead of the selecting lever I as an actuating means for the unit formed by the gear wheel I5 any other device could be employed, thus so many individual keys could be provided on the curved part 3 of the apparatus as vouchers can be delivered as a maximum in one strip, in which ar- The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claim without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:

A ticket-dispensing mechanism, including in combination a strip-feeding member comprising a drum having a plurality of stops thereon, manually-actuated means for setting said drum to a predetermined stop and spring power means for thereafter rotating the drum to feed a predetermined number of units from said strip, for severing said units from the strip, and for thereafter returning said mechanisms to their initial positions the severing device being retracted manually to permit the feeding action and being power actuated to effect cutting.

CARL FfiRRER. 

